Free Essay

How Financial Markets Work

In:

Submitted By carllight
Words 405
Pages 2
Explain how financial markets work in the United States

A financial market is where people can go to buy and sell securities and commodities. Securities are stocks and bonds, while commodities are items like crude oil, coffee beans, and precious metals. The markets are open and public. This allows for the market to set prices on everything traded based on investor trading and economic factors in a regulated fashion. A stock is a piece of ownership in a company. The value of that stock can go up or down based on the company’s performance. These companies that sell stock are public corporations, and they sell the shares of ownership to raise money for different reasons like to expand their business or invest in new technology. Bonds are more like a loan that selling shares of ownership. A bond is sold to borrow money from an investor. The bond will have an interest rate and date of maturity. There is an expected yield at maturity which is the bond price plus interest. Commodities are traded in an open market also. These natural resources are traded on the market so that the companies can secure these resources for future use, at a set price today. These commodities can be fluctuate in price daily and therefore this offers less risk by securing a price before they get the commodity. Identify processes the organization uses to comply with SEC regulations.

Starbucks has different processes that it uses to stay in compliance with the SEC regulations. Annual audits are performed on an annual basis to ensure compliance. These audits are both internal and external. The independent auditors are reviewed to ensure they maintain their independence. The company’s quarterly and financial results are reviewed with management and independent auditors to go over any changes to accounting policies, off-balances and the auditor’s opinion. Any legal or regulatory changes that may have occurred which can impact the financial statements and compliances policies are also reviewed. These reviews amongst many others are done by an Audit and Compliance committee that is given authority to oversee the accounting and financial reporting processes of Starbucks. The authorities given to this committee allow it unrestricted access to information and any authority necessary to execute its responsibilities.

Reference used was this PDF for the Starbucks Audit Committee Charter http://team.starbucks.net/sites/CORPSEC/BOD/BOD-000022, n@, Board Committee Charters/Audit Committee Charter (6-2012).DOC

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Fin 100 Week 4 Assignment 1 – Complexities of the U.S. Financial

...THE U.S. FINANCIAL To purchase this Click here: http://www.activitymode.com/product/fin-100-wk-4-assignment-1-complexities-of-the-u-s-financial/ Contact us at: SUPPORT@ACTIVITYMODE.COM FIN 100 WEEK 4 ASSIGNMENT 1 - COMPLEXITIES OF THE U.S. FINANCIAL The U.S. financial system has many complexities and it is impacted by several environmental factors, including federal regulations and the economy. Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you: 1. Describe how the U.S. financial markets impact the economy, businesses, and individuals. 2. Explain the role of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Federal Reserve Chairman, and Board, indicating its effectiveness in today’s economic environment. Provide support for rationale. 3. Explain how interest rates influence the U.S. and global financial environment. Provide support for explanation. 4. Describe how exchange rates may impact a business’s decision to operate in foreign markets. Click Here to Buy this; http://www.activitymode.com/product/fin-100-wk-4-assignment-1-complexities-of-the-u-s-financial Activity mode aims to provide quality study notes and tutorials to the students of FIN 100 Week 4 Assignment 1 - Complexities of the U.S. Financial in order to ace their studies. Activity mode - Best Home Work Tutorials FIN 100 WEEK 4 ASSIGNMENT 1 – COMPLEXITIES OF THE U.S. FINANCIAL To purchase this Click here: http://www.activitymode.com/product/fin-100-wk-4-assignment-1-complexities-of-the-u-s-financial/ Contact...

Words: 1314 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Financial Management Challenges

...Financial Management Challenges David Meszler BUS 650 Managerial Finance Prof. Kevin Kuznia July 29, 2013 To understand the challenges that face a financial manager today it is important to understand the general characteristics of market structures and the impact of market liquidity, competitiveness, and efficiency on financial managers. Clarifying market structures will show the basic constructs that financial managers work under. With the basic understanding of market structures and how they influence financial managers or how financial managers influence their given market structures we will identify two problems that are faced in current markets chosen from two Proquest articles, the first problem discussed will be communication issues and we will follow that up with a larger issue, the global economic recession. In discussing these issues we will also hit on how managers can possibly address those issues according to those articles. Market structures are fundamental in understanding how the economy works and how goods and/or services are exchanged. There are four basic market structures; perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. Perfect competition is when there are numerous sellers with no difference in the product, no cost to enter or exit the market, and there is no influence on price. The most common type of market structure is a monopolistic competition market. In this type of market there are numerous sellers with little...

Words: 1113 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Tran Hong Nhung

... | FS3032 – Capital Markets MODULE HANDBOOK 2014/15 - Semester 1 Module Lecturer: Dr Phan Tran Trung Dzung Faculty of Banking and Finance / FTU fandzung@ftu.edu.vn This module is supported by Weblearn – students are advised to access the site on a regular basis, at least once a week FS3032 Capital Markets |Teaching Location |A1101 | |Teaching Semester |1 | |Module Level |H | |Home Academic Department |LMBS | |Module Leader |Dr Phan Tran Trung Dzung | |Module Web Site |FS3032C | |Teaching Mode |Day | |Module Title |Capital Markets | |Timeslot | | |Credit Rating For Module |15 | Module Summary CODE: FS3032C TITLE: Capital Markets: Investment & Portfolio Management BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The world of finance...

Words: 4773 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

Best Financial Services Inc

...steadily in the future and make it become a leader in the Sarnia market, it has to address the following: * How to increase the daily work efficiency in the office so that Best Financial can serve more clients than it currently does which is 600. * Which option Linda should choose so that the company will grow in a sustainable way. * How to maintain existing clients so that Best Financial’s existing client base (600) will be loyal and stable. * How to develop a new marketing plan so that it will be more cost-effective. (unnecessary marketing expenses will decrease by approximately $550 per year) Analysis: Due to Best Financial’s good work ethic and values, its sales level and client base had been growing steadily throughout the years. However, things have changed right now, the recent loss of the top client-Gerald Young was a wake-up call for both Linda and Best Financial. First, the competition in the financial services industry in Sarnia is high (Exhibit 2), especially because of the existence of those 4 big companies (Exhibit 3). Second, according to Sun life Financial’s annual report, its sales decreased by 12.8% in 2007. This might be a big signal that the overall market environment is facing a recession. Therefore, if Best Financial still wants to grow in the future, it has to take advantage of its strengths and try to improve or avoid its weaknesses (Exhibit 1). In last couple years, Best Financial was trying to do some advertising on newspapers and bus shelters...

Words: 1948 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Modern Day Pychology

...(Prerequisite: FIN 100) Quarter: Spring 2013 Meeting Days/Time: Tuesday’s, 5:45, Prince George’s Campus Instructor: Jason Powers Instructor Phone: 443-599-9525 Academic Office: 301-505-3332 / 301-505-3311 Instructor E-mail: Jason.Powers@strayer.edu Instructor Office Hours/Location: Tuesday’s from 3:30pm – 5:30pm. Online Academic Office Phone Number: 877-540-1733 http://icampus.strayer.edu Technical Support Contact Information: 877-642-2999 Backboard Helpdesk: 866-350-9427 Inclement Weather Policy In the event of inclement weather, consult the Strayer University student website at www.strayer.edu for information on University closings and delays. Be sure to monitor the website for updates as they occur. Additionally, the student is required to contact me at Jason.Powers@strayer.edu. |4/8/2013 |Term Start Date | |  |  |  |  | |Week 1 |  |Week 7 |  | |  |4/9/2013 |  |5/21/2013 | |Week 2 |  |Week 8 |  | |  |4/16/2013 |  |5/28/2013 | |Week 3 |  |Week 9 |  | |  |4/23/2013 |  |6/4/2013 | ...

Words: 6563 - Pages: 27

Premium Essay

Managemnet

...Introduction Changes are inevitable in the market. With the development of technology, people’s living style and demand will be change as well, so managers have to expand the size of business to make the organization more perfect and get effective, efficiency achievements. According to expand business, the company should do more international trade, it will make the globalization and the globalization has more benefits. For example, it can reduce the goods costing, which some countries can open the factories on China. However, the globalization has some disadvantages. For example, the global financial crisis occurred on 2008. This essay is going to analyses how globalization and global financial crisis in the business environment impact on the organization you work in and the tasks you undertake. The globalization refers to the system of contact among the countries of the world in order to improve the global economy. The globalization is the amalgamation of economics and societies all over the world. Globalization including economic, technological, political, and cultural exchanges made possible largely by advances in communication, transportation, and infrastructure (Hotbabefacthicks, 2010). The global financial crisis refers to a widespread economic emergency that began in 2007. Beginning with the crash of the United States financial system, the crisis quickly spread worldwide, thanks to the interconnected marks of modern global trading systems. It is still impossible...

Words: 1357 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Risk Disclosure

...Financial stability and risk disclosure Keynote address by Mr Jaime Caruana, General Manager of the BIS, to the FSB Roundtable on risk disclosure, Basel, 9 December 2011. Abstract High-quality risk disclosure is good for markets, because it helps investors make more informed decisions. It is good for prudential supervisors, because it makes banks more accountable to both supervisors and investors. And it is good for financial stability, because it reduces the chance that unexpected events will disrupt the system. To be effective in promoting market discipline, disclosure must be complemented by strong incentives for counterparties to engage in monitoring. The public sector's role in promoting transparency arises from a number of market failures, including the externalities to be gained from common standards, the "free rider" problems that may lead to too little investment in producing and gathering financial information, and the tendency of markets to overreact to bad news when the information environment is clouded. Guided by these considerations, the Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have long supported improvements in transparency, through their work on accounting, disclosure templates and aggregate market data. At the same time, industry and investor representatives need to play a key role in developing disclosure standards. Accounting standards need to converge, standards for the discussion and analysis that accompany financial...

Words: 2400 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Finance Management

...To understand the challenges that face a financial manager today it is important to understand the general characteristics of market structures and the impact of market liquidity, competitiveness, and efficiency on financial managers. Clarifying market structures will show the basic constructs that financial managers work under. With the basic understanding of market structures and how they influence financial managers or how financial managers influence their given market structures we will identify two problems that are faced in current markets chosen from two Proquest articles, the first problem discussed will be communication issues and we will follow that up with a larger issue, the global economic recession. In discussing these issues we will also hit on how managers can possibly address those issues according to those articles. Market structures are fundamental in understanding how the economy works and how goods and/or services are exchanged. There are four basic market structures; perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. Perfect competition is when there are numerous sellers with no difference in the product, no cost to enter or exit the market, and there is no influence on price. The most common type of market structure is a monopolistic competition market. In this type of market there are numerous sellers with little price differences in the product, a low cost to enter the market, and a slight influence on cost which depends...

Words: 290 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Financial Terms

...| Financial Terms and Roles | Individual Assignment | | FIN/370 | May 7, 2012 Kristopher Karazassis | | Financial Terms and Roles Finance is concerned with how individuals, such as managers, lenders, businesses, firms, investors, and borrowers allocate money over a specified period. This paper lists the definitions and roles of financial and accounting terms provided in the course design. The terminology that follows explains and interprets the concepts and elements relevant to the first week’s objectives and topics in Finance 370. Emphasis is placed on types of securities, markets, finance, equity, liability, ratios, and assets. Finance is the study of how people and businesses evaluate investments and raise capital to fund them. The key role of finance is the management of cash flow in deciding on investments, how to fund them, how to allocate money for day-to-day operations over time, and the interpretation of financial concepts, which is the central focus of finance. Efficient Market is a market price unbiased of the investments true mean value. The fact that...

Words: 3334 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Investment Broker Internship

...The internship position at Barkley Financial in the stock and bond department was advertised as an opportunity to take a crash course in the industry. This particular full service brokerage and investment banking firm has offices throughout the US and is well established in the market that share information. Barkley’s solid presence in the market has made it a major player the world of finance with well over one billion dollars under its management, so the company selects interns with the intention of adding to the company’s solid base. The job was a way of fully experience the true aspects of day to day functions and operations of a major stock and bond company. While the experience itself is the central focus of the position, the internship was more than a temporary peek into the real inner workings of the world of finance. The coveted position was also an opportunity to establish a solid position with an established company after college. Each of the candidates selected to enter the internship program are considered as candidates to extend their association with the company. Interns that are successful are offered a full-time licensed stock and bonds advisor-broker trainee positions. The pressure to do the very best job possible was there since this was an opportunity to secure a highly lucrative sales position. The company also emphasized the opportunity for strong advancement opportunities. The company had a reputation of recognizing driven individuals, and allowing them...

Words: 2327 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

A Book Critique How Markets Fail – the Logic of Economic Calamities John Cassidy

...A Book Critique How Markets Fail – The Logic of Economic Calamities John Cassidy BMBA 9202NB Professor Salvatore F. Cordo February 16, 2011 Samir Hadzic Professor Salvatore F. Cordo BMBA 9202NB February 16, 2011 How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities In 2009, John Cassidy, noted journalist at The New Yorker published the book, How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities. In How Markets Fail, John Cassidy describes what he calls utopian economics and how the utopian thinking has led to economic crisis such as job losses, bank bailouts, and corporate greed. Cassidy attempts to convince that utopian economics does not capture the true behaviors of humanity collectively leading to unanticipated and adverse economic outcomes. He presents the history of economics and contrasts the idea of utopian economics with reality based economics. Reality based economics encompass people’s behaviors and thinking identifying irrational self-interests (Cassidy, 9). Cassidy then explains in detail how economic theory and practice influenced the “Great Crunch” (i.e. collapse in sub-prime mortgage lending during last decade). The timeliness of Cassidy’s publication of a book to address how markets fail is certainly ideal in light of the recent crash in sub-prime mortgages. The financial impact of this economic crisis continues to dictate the pace of the current economy. Not only is the topic stimulating to a graduate MBA student, but has value to...

Words: 2844 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Financial Market

...Financial Market Cours 1 Le 16/09/2014 Introduction Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859) was a French political thinker and historian best known for his works Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes: 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both of these, he analyzed the improved living standards and social conditions of individuals, as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States, and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science. Tocqueville was active in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–1848) and then during the Second Republic (1849–1851) which succeeded the February 1848 Revolution. He retired from political life after Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's 2 December 1851 coup, and thereafter began work on The Old Regime and the Revolution. He argued that the importance of the French Revolution was to continue the process of modernizing and centralizing the French state which had begun under King Louis XIV. The failure of the Revolution came from the inexperience of the deputies who were too wedded to abstract Enlightenment ideals. Tocqueville was a classical liberal who advocated parliamentary government, but was skeptical of the extremes of democracy The work of Alexis de Tocqueville permit to understand how the financial market works...

Words: 2856 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Economy : Collateral

...the commitment. HOW IT WORKS? Let's suppose you would like to borrow 200,000 TL to start a business. Even if you have an outstanding credit rating, a bank can be unwilling to lend you the money because it can be left with nothing if you default on the loan. So, the bank may require 200,000 TL of collateral in order to lend you the money. This collateral should consist of financial instruments, houses, or even objects such as jewelry, art, or other things. You might also promise your business receivables as well. Why is that collateral important for financial markets and institutions? Collateral is an essential building block of financial markets and affects economic growth and financial stability. It decreases risks for lenders and borrowers alike, by providing safety to lenders and permitting borrowers to obtain more credit at good rates, and plays a main part in different market functions. However, policymakers regularly overlook the important role collateral plays in financial fixtures, the financial infrastructure and the different institutions that support trading, payments, clearing, and settlement and for the economy as a whole. Decrease of collateral value is the vital risk when securing loans with marketable collateral. Financial institutions carefully monitor the market value of any financial asset held as collateral and take suitable action if the value consequently declines below the predetermined maximum loan to value ratio. HOW IT WORKS? Let's suppose you...

Words: 633 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Ethic

...destination for books, eBooks, magazines, toys & games, music, DVD and Blu-ray, video games, and related products and services” (Barnes & Noble’s, 2012). In this paper Team C will study the ethics and compliance of Barnes & Noble’s. After we obtain the company’s annual report and SEC filings for the past two years Team C will focus on the following: study the data provided in the report and address the ethical issues by reviewing the role of ethics and compliance in Barnes & Noble’s financial environment, explain the companies procedures that are in place to ensure ethical behavior is specified, give an explanation on financial markets and how it works in the United States, pinpoint the processes that the company uses to abide by SEC regulations, evaluate the organizations financial performance for the past two years will be displayed by using financial ratios for each year, and provide a discussion of the two year trend for each ratio and the finding of the organization’s financial health will be provided. Ethics and Compliance at Barnes and Noble Barnes and Noble is a successful organization built around its establishment of a thorough ethical code of conduct. This holds all directors, officers, and employees of the organization directly accountable for ethical concerns that may arise or they may be a part of. In compliance of proper ethical procedures its ethical code advises, “It is the policy of Barnes & Noble, Inc. to conduct its business with the highest...

Words: 974 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

International Finance

...have fundamentally changed the scope and activities of firms thereby altering the practice of finance within these firms. As a consequence of an increasing reliance on tightly-integrated foreign operations, a parallel world of finance has been opened within every multinational firm and this world has, heretofore, been overlooked. The course materials are designed to address the many aspects of financial decision making within global firms prompted by these changes that are not addressed in traditional materials. The paper provides an overview of the structure of the course and its seven modules with particular emphasis on the three modules that constitute the core of the course. The paper also describes an analytical framework that has been developed through the creation of the course materials to guide critical financial decisions on financing, investment, risk management and incentive management within a multinational firm. This framework emphasizes the need to reconcile conflicting forces in order for multinational firms to gain competitive advantage from their internal capital markets. The paper concludes with a discussion of the course's pedagogical approach and detailed descriptions of all the course materials, including 19 case studies, corresponding teaching notes, several module notes and supplementary materials. Mark Veblen, Kathleen Luchs and Claire Gilbert provided excellent research assistance in the process of writing these cases and the course overview note. Seminar...

Words: 25419 - Pages: 102